Moving to London with 4 month old

[SoonToBeDad30]

Hey all,
My wife, our 4 month old dd and I are relocating to London from Gloucestershire for job purposes. I’ll be working in Mayfair and we are looking for a quite a bohemian but family focused area. We are planning another child so need at least 3 beds and local baby groups and decent state primary schools as well as good nurseries. A private garden is preferable and the budget is roughly £500,000 any suggestions or particular areas we should look at?

Ps. People will probably say that reading is not bohemian, which is true, but any decent size towns/cities has its fair share of the boho scene now. We have some independent shops and pubs, plenty of baby groups, NCT, there is actually quite an active “hippy scene” if you know where to look but there’s also quite a lot of upper middle class professionals more generally because of the close links to London. There are things like vegan food markets/farmers market etc

It's 1 hour and 20 ish minutes commute direct from Stroud to Paddington. I'd love a commute like that (mine is longer). If your London commute is still ongoing to be an hour ish, I really would consider living further out. With a 4 month old baby, you don't yet have the full appreciation for how much for needs for space will change when your baby becomes mobile and needs to play outside or wants to have friends over after school, etc. I would absolutely take the space over a shorter commute (and that's coming from someone who is very used to a long commute to Central London). Even with my commute, I get plenty of quality time with my dc, and our quality of life as a family is much better.

[quote roarfeckingroarr]@SoonToBeDad30 I live near that option in Fulham op (SW6). It's a brilliant area, great with kids and easy commute to Mayfair on the circle or district - or you could walk.[/quote]
Sorry to go off piste but did you think that price was oddly low for Flaaam?

That's not overpriced for Fulham. That's over 1000 a foot for a basement flat on a semi busy road. I would say slightly over priced. Plus leasehold.

Sorry I mean low. I mean it's over priced.

Two things: firstly, know that in London if you are any kind of walk/bus/short cycle from Mayfair the flat will be tiny and/or a shithole, so I wouldn't focus too much on that unless being relatively central is really important to you. In London, an hour's commute really is standard.

Secondly, all neighborhoods have fine/safe areas and all neighborhoods have dodgy feeling areas, usually just streets away from each other. So I wouldn't get too caught up on safety at this stage - that's something you'll have to gauge when you go to viewings and see the immediate area. Kentish Town, Chalk Farm, Camden are all nice and fine and certainly safe (as in, I'm sure there are occasional muggings but I wouldn't hesitate to walk alone at night), but you won't get much for your budget, so you have to decide if you'd rather have space and a garden or be somewhere relatively central and trendy, sadly it's generally not possible to do both (unless you're an investment banker or similar!)

Leyton/Walthamstow/Leytonstone Very boho and tonnes of family things. Everyone seems to have moved from Hackey when they had a baby. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90290887#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85374172#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/77960721#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/78232575#/ (more towards Stratford which is less established)

^Hackney. Obviously.

Anyway, look at Francis Road for an idea of Leyton boho vibe

I agree with @Etherealhedgehog - it's possible to find somewhere in budget, but it's likely to be ex-council and probably not with a garden. South London is typically less expensive than North, with transport links via bus or overground rather than the tube.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/104752220#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/79213566#/

That Northfields flat is a great choice and the schools around Northfields and Ealing are great. (I live nearby.) It also practically backs onto Lammas Park which would make a private garden nearly unnecessary. Northfields Avenue is a great, varied and naice High St.

I think your goals around "bohemian" and "great schools" are somewhat in conflict. Any area with great schools will attract families, whereas "bohemian" areas are more likely to be dominated by young singles or DINKYs. Which is more important? (Not entirely sure what you mean by "bohemian" either, tbh.)

Why don't you rent initially?

If I were you I would spend some time scoping out different areas. London neighbourhoods are all so, so different. I lived in Peckham for a long time and loved it - it's defo got the bohemian vibe you're after and lots of green spaces, plus it has Overground links. But it was getting very expensive when I left.

I actually left London to move to the West Country with my partner and haven't looked back! Can't imagine living there now

Do you want to be in the city or would you rather have a 3 bedroom house with a garden? The commute from many places in the counties around London would be no longer than a lot of the places PPs are suggesting.

Could you afford to rent while you get to know the city? Rental prices have dropped through the floor and you could probably negotiate a 6 month break clause so you are not tied in for an entire year.

2 bed flats within walking distance of your office start at £1800 pcm eg Marylebone, Hyde Park, Paddington Basin (on the canal). If you could stretch to a bit more, you could get somewhere with a communal garden or on a garden square.

Something like this, 2 bedrooms, split level, with a private terrace and a massive private, beautiful communal garden, just across the road from Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. You could be back from work in 10 mins. The neighbourhood is more chi chi than bohemian but the convenience of being so close to work while you find your feet and explore the city for 6 months especially with a tiny baby would make life so much easier.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86038792#/

It would be £12k for nothing but moving to somewhere you don't know would be a more expensive mistake if you hate it.

Just to explain why we are keen to move to London. Ideally we would be within 1 hour of my work so that I can spend time with my family. My wife’s family are in the SE and mine in East Anglia so it would be ideal to be closer with our dd and hopefully our future dc.

Regarding the renting we have discussed it however it wouldn’t be financially viable.

Acton Town is not Northfields and not bo ho but this is what you get:
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/76239885#/

Northfields to Green Park is 27 minutes on the Tube.

Depending on which line you are commuting on you could look at Vauxhall. Although as an area to live in with a baby I would always pick Northfields over Vauxhall.
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/98659514#/floorplan?activePlan=1

I second/third SE London. We live in between Honor Oak and Catford and have a really good choice of stations we can easily get to. If you can walk to an overground station you can then easily change to the Jubilee line for either Bond Street or Green Park depending on which is closer to work.

You do need to get to know the areas though. Where we are is lovely and our 1 bed ex council flat is worth around £350k but 5 minutes down the road (where you get significantly more for your money) I’d be wary about crime. Everyone says Catford is up and coming and friends of ours have just bought a decent 3 bed with a garden there for £550k but personally I’m wary about walking around certain parts on my own.

If you really can’t rent before you buy, I’d try to spend some weekends walking around all of these areas so you can at least narrow down your search a bit more

I know renting is expensive but I think it would be a good idea to live somewhere before buying particularly if you are constrained to a flat. You also need to consider schools for your dc.

Hampstead Garden Suburb is an Arts and Crafts garden suburb north of Hampstead Heath. It is not especially bohemian but a great place (very safe) for a family with excellent primary schools and just the other side of the heath from your friends in Kentish Town. It's a good bet for finding a house with a garden.

2 bed cottage with a garden (corner plot) £519k
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/102637808#/

2 bedroom, 2 reception (could convert to 3 bedroom) flat, communal garden and parking £500k
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/104026823#/

2 bedroom flat, communal garden £475k
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/76095489#/

2 bedroom flat, balcony, communal garden £425k
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/76635070#/

If your family are in East Anglia you want to look at areas in North to North East London and add a push SE London. So you don't have to go across London to visit them, as it will add an extra hour onto your journey.

Hi, I would definitely focus on a good family area. If you could get something of a reasonable size in Fulham/Chiswick/Northfields etc that would be great. Would rather compromise on size for a good area, especially with children. Would forget Catford, but that's just my opinion...

Hampstead Garden Suburb is lovely but the closest Tube station is a good mile away.
I second those who say that you really need to walk around these neighbourhoods at different times of the day and night to get a proper feel.
Personally (I haven’t lived in London for years although we do come back annually for the summer), I wouldn’t live in some parts of Catford. Peckham has nice bits and shady bits.
Brixton is much more gentrified these days but again has bits that are not as safe as others.
I have a sense of schools in Ealing (most are very good) but very little sense of schools in SE London.
I would really really spend as much time in these areas as possible otherwise the move from Stroud might be a shock.